Religion Collections in Libraries and Archives: A Guide to Resources in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia Table of Contents - Preface/Acknowledgements - Abbreviations Lists of Entries: District of Columbia - Maryland - Virginia

Mount St. Mary's Seminary and College:
Hugh J. Phillips Library,
Special Collections and Archives

Access Policies

The public may use the library. Interlibrary loan is available to those who have a library card. These cards are available to students, faculty and local townspeople. There is no restriction on photocopying. A 10 cent fee is charged. The following equipment is available for printing of microforms: two microfilm readers, one of which is a reader-printer; three microfiche readers, one of which is a reader-printer.

The Archives is open to the public, but researchers are strongly urged to call ahead for an appointment. Photocopying fees are twenty-five cents a page.

Reference Policy:

Library: Telephone and mail queries are accepted. Reference desk hours are:

Monday--Thursday	9:00 a.m.--4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.--10:00 p.m.
Friday	9:00 a.m.--4:00 p.m.
Saturday	9:00 a.m.--5:00 p.m.
Sunday	2:00 p.m.--10:00 p.m.

Archives: Research requests, by phone, mail, or e-mail, are accepted from researchers unable to conduct their own research due to geographical, physical or other limitations.

Borrowing Privileges:

Library: Only faculty, students and townspeople who live within a 15-mile radius may borrow books.

Archives: Items in the Archives and Special Collections are not loaned out, except for exhibition in museums.

Networks/Consortia:

Mount Saint Mary's College and Seminary belong to OCLC, RLIN, PALINET, Washington Theological Consortium, Maryland Interlibrary Consortium and CARL. Holdings for the Library are available through OCLC and in the process of being added to CARL through the online database (PACIS). Special Collection and archives holdings are not available online. OCLC searches are available through both the Library and the Archives.

Background Note:

Mount St. Mary's was founded in 1808 by John Dubois. The Hugh J. Phillips Library serves the College for approximately 1400 undergraduate and 300 graduate students and the Theological Seminary for 150 Roman Catholic seminary students. There are four library branches: the Main Library, the Curriculum Library; the Media Center and Special Collections and Archives.

Description of Collections

Books and monographs:

The Library has approximately 70,000 volumes classified in BL-BX with inclusive publishing dates from the early 19th to the 20th century. This is the single main collection using LC classification. The collection supports the curriculum of all three student bodies (undergraduate, graduate and seminary). General theology is collected to support the undergraduate and graduate programs.

The Theological Seminary is one of the largest Catholic theological seminaries in the country. The particular strengths of this collection are works on patristics, American Catholic history and Catholic spiritual formation. Also of importance is a good collection of works on and representing early 19th century Catholic history in Maryland.

Special Collections and Archives has approximately 10,000 books. Highlights in Special Collections include Catholic Church history, the history of Mount St. Mary's College and Seminary, prominent Catholic American families, Catholic religious institutions, missions and some religious art. Geographically, these Special Collections relate to Maryland, the United States, Europe, and Latin America.

The card and computer catalogs cover these collections.

Periodicals and newspapers:

The Library has approximately 350 periodical subscriptions relating to religion with inclusive dates from 1879 to the present. They also subscribe to Project Muse and Expanded Academic ASAP, both of which have scores of full text religion periodicals online. Serial highlights mirror those of the book collection with a particular focus on Catholic spiritual formation.

Special Collections and Archives has several important newsletters relating to Mount St. Mary's College and Seminary. These include Pipeline, Mt. Echo, Vineyard, Mt. Briefing, Lighthearted Corners and Monocacy Valley. Finding aids are available in the Archives for some of these newspapers, newsletters, and journals.

The serials collection is not classified. Both bound volumes and microfilms are filed alphabetically. The general serial collections have been added to PACIS.

Archives, manuscripts, correspondence, and oral histories:

The Archives holds approximately 500 linear feet of manuscripts and archives, some of which predate the founding of the College and Seminary in 1808. Areas of interest and subject highlights include missionary work; women religious; prominent American political and religious leaders; slavery; Mount St. Mary's College and Seminary history; religious formation of alumni as seen from the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, WWI and WWII, the Korean War, the Viet Nam Conflict and Desert Storm; Sulpician records; Elizabeth Seton; Sisters of Charity; Jesuit records, including notes, diaries, and letters relating to United States missions in South America; and diaries, journals, oral histories of Mount St. Mary's alumni, showing the spiritual development of these former students; and correspondence from members of religious communities (e.g. priests, brothers, women religious, bishops, cardinals and popes). Geographical scope is global; denominational scope is Roman Catholic.

There is a card catalog indexed by author, subject, location, and names of individual. The catalog is cross-referenced chronologically.

The archival collection includes academic, administrative and alumni records, Board of Trustees minutes, and correspondence; departmental reports; development, financial, governmental, and faculty records; litigations; personnel and Mount St. Mary's Presidential records; public relations; pamphlets; Seminary information and various studies. Some of the subject areas covered are the integration of women into Mount St. Mary's in 1972, control within the church and religion versus the secular in this century.

Maps:

The Archives has a few maps pertaining to the land acquisition in the development of Mount Saint Mary's campus.

The card catalog contains records of these items.

Videos and Sound Recordings:

There are approximately 500 VHS videotapes in the Media Center Library relating to religion. These titles support the curriculum of the Library.

 

Paintings, photographs, slides, and prints:

The Special Collections and Archives holds a large number in this category representing two centuries of the Catholic tradition. Religious artwork dates to the medieval and Renaissance periods and is both European and American in origin. Artwork includes such topics as the ancient Church, Church hierarchy, Church history, famous historical figures, portraits of Mount St. Mary Presidents, prominent alumni, Roman architecture and sacred art. Specific items include religious vessels, vestments and objects. This collection also contains over 100,000 photographs of art, priests, the Seminary, seminarians, and staff as well as many photographs of life and architecture on the campus of Mount St. Mary's.

Databases, CD-ROMS, and other machine-readable sources

The Library has America: History and Life; ATLA Religion Datatbase on CD-Rom; Catholic Periodical Index; Philosopher's Index; Thesaurus Linguæ Græcæ; and Thomas Aquinas Database on CD.

Subject Headings